Untouchable
by LilyGhost
Summary: Stephanie's craving for a doughnut gets her an unexpected friend and new perspective on her relationship with Ranger.


**Ranger, Stephanie, and Ella, still belong to Janet. The other characters and any mistakes are mine. Warnings for potentially upsetting subject matter. **

"It's okay," I said, trying to reassure my unexpected passenger. "You're just about to have a baby. This should be no big deal. Women have them everyday."

"Have you?" She asked, around teeth that were currently being clenched.

"No. I've managed to dodge that bullet so far. But my sister and my best friend have popped kids out every couple of years ... and they act like it's no big deal."

"Well, they're not me. Deciding to get pregnant was a trust fall, a ten-finger cross, and a leap of faith, all rolled into one. My husband and I had this planned down to when, where, and who'd be handling the delivery. There was _no _room for error here."

That's why I slowed down when I spotted her pacing beside her car, which had been haphazardly parked on the shoulder of the road. Her face had been ghost-white. Her eyes were so alarmed, they'd taken up the majority of what already looked like a child-sized and childlike face. And she was shaking so bad, I could see the tremors from ten feet away. Something told me her being hugely pregnant wasn't the reason for the fear.

My curiosity and need to help out kicked in ... and I had to stop despite all the warnings Ranger and the guys have given me about not trusting everyone I meet. I figured that unless her obviously-pregnant stomach was from a props department and a homicidal maniac was lying across the backseat of her car, I'd be able to hold my own in this particular situation. I asked if she was alright ... and soon learned that her name's also Stephanie. The pain in her back that she'd been experiencing had progressed to actual contractions when she's still two weeks away from her baby's due date. And what was worse to the both of us, she wasn't in the city she should be in to deal with her prearranged labor-issues.

The last one is what had her sweating, shaking, and swearing, roadside when I had pulled up behind her.

"Ummm ... can you really predict when a baby comes?" I said, just to keep her talking. "Aside from a scheduled C-section, isn't a baby's actual birth date sorta a crapshoot? You're given an idea, but no real guarantee."

"Not for me. I don't do surprises. I can't have my baby now or _here_."

"I'm glad you agree that you're not having a baby in my car right now. You need to keep your water corked, and you have to keep him or her in there until we reach St. Francis. I'm pretty good in an emergency, but not this kind."

"You don't understand. I'm NOT having my baby in this city. _I. Need. To. Be. Back. In. Mine_. I'm not giving birth anywhere except where the doctor I've had since I was young is. No one else is allowed to touch me. That was the deal."

"St. Francis is the closest place. And from the way you're contracting ... you don't have a lot of time or options."

"I'll make time. Just get me to the Medical Center in Newark. They claim with first babies, labors are usually long, drawn-out things. We can make it, probably with half-a-day to spare. Of course, they also say your first child can be days overdue too. So what do 'they' know. If I'd known that wouldn't be the case with me, I wouldn't have risked a trip to visit my sister in Mount Holly, and Marco wouldn't have listened to me when I told him to go ahead and check on his mom. She's being hit with one cancer diagnosis right after the other. Although he won't say it, I think he's afraid she'll be too sick to meet her grandson."

"I'm sure she'll get to see your little guy, since he seems pretty determined to arrive today."

She grabbed her stomach and breathed in a way that scared me a little even though I know it's how she was taught to do it.

"I don't know why I'm telling you my business," she said, when she could talk relatively normal again.

"It's not just you, everyone opens up to me. I have a very friendly face and I practically shoot off '_You can trust me_' vibes."

"You don't have to listen, or pretend to be interested, just because you're stuck with me."

"Believe me, I'm _always _interested. I've been called nosy more than I've been called my own name. And I'm not stuck with you. If anything, you're stuck with a 'good samaritan' who happened to be driving by on the hunt for a doughnut and wanted to be helpful to someone who looked like she was in trouble."

"I wasn't in trouble, just in labor. After I walked off the contraction, I would've just gotten back in my car and got myself back to Newark. You just happened to catch me at a weak moment in mid-panic, and insisted on driving me somewhere. Which really isn't safe these days. You should remember that next time you see someone freaking out on the side of the road."

"God … don't you start lecturing me about that too. I'm just doing a good deed here! I really think we should stick to a place a lot closer ... like only minutes away instead of an hour or two depending on traffic."

"I can't go anyplace else. They'll try to examine me to see how dilated I am, and then attempt to admit me so I won't be able to leave when I need to. I know I'm going to make a scene if I feel trapped. Look, I'm running out of choices here and I don't have the brain power at the moment to pretty this up, so I'm really sorry if this makes you uncomfortable, but I was sexually abused when I was four and raped by someone else when I was thirteen. _NO ONE _touches me without my permission first. And only my husband and my doctor have been given it. I can't handle a busy hospital that I'm not familiar with, or a bunch of strangers taking off my clothes and touching me, especially down there_. Okay? _I need my doctor and to be in my own private space. I don't want to complicate my son's birth by being put in a situation that could trigger a bad reaction in me. My body is _NEVER_ going to be public property again."

All the air whooshed out of me. Her nerves and insistence makes gut-twisting sense now. It's hard to be matter-of-fact about your body and strangers looking at, poking, and forcibly holding it down or apart, in preparation of giving birth, when it was already exposed, controlled, and hurt, by someone - or _someones - _in the past.

"Okay. We'll get you to wherever you feel safe," I quickly promised other-Stephanie. "I'm sorry you were hurt like that ... and for not understanding your situation fast enough so you wouldn't have felt forced to tell me about it."

"It's not like it's something you can ever forget, but thank you for saying that. It sounds stupid ..."

"It doesn't," I interrupted to say. "It sounds like you found a way to move forward while also protecting yourself. I admire that. I haven't been through what you have and my solution has always been to avoid serious relationships and declare kids a no-go."

She waited to speak until her breathing was under control again. "Don't admire me too much. I'm still completely fucked-up. I can't even look at baby animals nursing without collapsing inward on myself like one of those giant inflatable Christmas decorations when they get unplugged. Books, movies, and headlines, can shove me back in time and keep me in bed for a week while I re-deal with my past, so I have to be real careful with what I see, read, or listen to. It's a day-by-day thing, and exhausting as hell. One day I'm okay, and the next ... I can only function by completely shutting myself down and running solely on Zombie-mode."

"Have you talked to anyone about how you're feeling?" I had to ask.

Her bitter laugh turned into an uncomfortable wince. I can't tell if it's the baby or a memory that caused the pain.

"I've spent more than half of my life in therapy. And I've gone more often before deciding to marry Marco and when we decided to try for a Milo. I was terrified I'd end up making a mess of their lives if I didn't go extra hard trying to fix mine. I've determined that this is as good as I'm gonna get. I own and run an antiques store that I love. I found a man I trust, which is almost more important than the fact that I got to marry the man I love, and together we're going to raise Milo to be the kind of man who can't even fathom doing what was done to me to someone else."

"It doesn't fix or change what happened to you, but if it helps ... I know three buildings full of men who couldn't do that to anyone. Their boss, who happens to be my boyfriend, would kill them slowly and very painfully if they did. So if you ever need pointers on how to keep someone on track, you have my card. Just call me. It's good that you have a life-plan in place, though," I said, feeling absurdly jealous of that.

Not of her having a baby, but that despite what she's been through, she still sees her life as something to be lived. Ranger and I are together now, a 'hot and heavy item' Grandma Mazur calls us, but we should be past the 'dating stage' and onto more serious business. If _that Stephanie _can live through that kind of psychological and physical torture and still see a happily-ever-after for her future_, this Stephanie _should at least be able to take Ranger up on his '_anytime you're ready to_' invite to move Rex and myself permanently onto the seventh floor with him.

"I did have a plan," she answered. "My doctor, my husband, and a quiet delivery room with only the three of us, and possibly a nurse or two that I'm comfortable with, for Milo's birth. And no breastfeeding afterwards. My uncle was disgustingly fascinated by that area even when there was nothing there. I've hated him, my chest, and anything touching it, ever since. It sucks, and pisses me off more than I can say, but I can't get over the lingering revulsion even for my baby. I know for some, that's going to knock off a few 'Good Mom points' straight outta the gate."

I suddenly felt like throwing up, but she's still living in the present moment while I'm busy fighting nausea thinking about her past.

"Now almost all of that plan has been blown to hell," she was saying.

"Not necessarily. I know my way around most of Newark, thanks to my guy's family living there. Plus this vehicle has built-in help at the touch of at least three buttons. If you and Milo can hang on for another hour, I'll get you guys there."

"We're tough. We can make it. If not, he'll get his first car ride _before _the hospital stay instead of after it."

I sent a glare her way. "Don't even joke about that. This is a _very-recent _replacement for a car I accidentally got torched, and no way in hell am I telling my boyfriend/Boss that it needs to be replaced due to it being doused with birth-gunk. You'd better get busy summoning your doc. I'll feel better knowing there's someone waiting for us."

I felt less worried when she laughed at my concern for my car. If _she's _not panicking, _I _sure as shit shouldn't be. I repeated to myself what I had naively told her after she had gotten herself settled in my passenger's seat back in Trenton. Women have babies every day, and I guess I'm going to be helping_ this one_ get through the process of having hers. I didn't think I possessed any maternal instincts, but I feel protective of 'other-Stephanie'. It's possible that I see her as a younger version of myself in more than name only.

My car's dash rang with an incoming call after I rolled into Newark. I've never been happier for the link I have to Rangeman's control room, or for my personal contact with its Ranger-in-Chief.

"I thought you were only going to deplete Tasty Pastry's supply of doughnuts, but the control room is putting you an hour North of it. And you're going the wrong way if you're planning on sneak-attacking my parents. Your navigational skills seem to be way off today, Babe. What's going on?"

"I'm headed to the hospital on Lyons Ave. I know you were kidding about my bad sense of direction, but I'm serious about it today. I'm on the right route, right?" I felt the Earth's atmosphere go deathly still when I mentioned the _H_-word. "I'm not hurt," I quickly told Ranger. "I'm actually feeling really good right now. I'm just making a special delivery. My GPS says I'm about ten minutes out. Is that right?"

I can tell he's breathing easier by the way my own lungs expanded. We're really that physically-connected. My neck tingle has turned into a full-blown codependent-thing with his body. We feel the other's everything. Another example of why I'm a total idiot for not fully committing to a cohabitational or matrimonial relationship with him. I mean, what's there to be scared of? There really are no downfalls. There's food made by Ella morning and night, endless hot water sent to his shower, constant Mom-blocking courtesy of the front desk, and best of all ... Ranger's love, support, zen-like presence, and hard-everywhere body, round-the-clock. And as Steph-2 said about her hubby, I trust Ranger more than any other person on the planet.

'_You really are an idiot_,' I mentally told myself, before focusing back on his voice. Another bonus, since his voice is the _only_ thing outside of a tranquilizer dart that can calm me down when I'm totally stressing out over something.

"You should be seeing the sign for the building in six minutes," he told me.

"Okay, thank you. Ummm, Ranger?"

"Yeah, Babe?"

"I'm going to stay here in Newark until Stephanie has her baby." I stopped talking when I felt his confusion. "It's a long story that I'll tell you all about if you feel like taking a drive down here to wait with me for her husband and their bundle-of-boy to get here. If it's not too late at night - or too early in the morning - afterwards, maybe we can stop in and see your parents. I have something I want to ask them."

"Such as?"

"If they'd be okay with me living full-time with their son from now on ... married or not."

I smiled. I can tell that I actually managed to shock Batman. He doesn't stun though, except in looks. He recovered instantly.

"They don't get a say in that decision," he said, less-than-a-beat later, "but _I _do. Consider yourself, your rat, and your things, already moved in. This must've been one hell of a Boston Cream run."

I could hear his smile that likely mirrored the one my rearview mirror showed was on my face.

"I can honestly say ... it's the beginning of new lives all around."


End file.
